Two celebrated writers deeply influenced by the riparian and other landscapes of the American West will read from their work and explore how storytelling – in the tradition of Thoreau and Emerson – can give voice to natural resources.

Kathleen Dean Moore is an activist and author who teaches at Oregon State University. Her most recent book is Moral Ground; it focuses on the moral imperatives for solving climate change to pass a healthy environment on to future generations. Worth reading: her Blue River Declaration. Below is a video with excerpts of a talk Moore gave earlier this year at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC: (full hour-long talk here)

Craig Childs is an award-winning writer who explores dramatic wild landscapes. Below is a video from a Craig Childs talk in 2008 at the San Francisco Public Library:

Moderator Bill Deverell is probably most familiar to L.A.’s Creek Freaks. He teaches history at USC. He has a lot of areas of expertise, but I especially enjoy his insights about how environment, race, and immigration shaped Los Angeles history. I’ve enjoyed hearing him speak more than a half dozen times, including that earlier ALOUD panel. I highly recommend these books of his: Eden by Design, Whitewashed Adobe, and Land of Sunshine.

And if that’s not enough for you – come and say hi to your fellow creek freaks – next Wednesday.